This weekend I’m setting off with my two girls on an incredible adventure. On Saturday we fly from Melbourne up to Darwin where we meet up with my parents aboard their yacht Natsumi. After a night on-board in the safety of the harbour, we will set off on a three-week adventure that will take us across the Bonaparte Gulf into the Kimberley region of Western Australia. We will sail up incredible gorges, shower under waterfalls, swim in waterholes, and have the opportunity to view ancient aboriginal rock art that perhaps only a few hundred westerners have ever seen.

I had the incredible opportunity to do a similar voyage through the Kimberleys when I was 16 years old and I still hold amazing memories from that trip. More than anything, I can’t wait to share these memories with my two girls…

…but unfortunately they are far less excited about the trip than I am.

Actually, it is not so much that they aren’t excited, it’s more so that their excitement is tempered by worry and fear. They are worried about being away from their Mum for three weeks (the longest they’ve ever been apart), they are worried about crocodiles, but perhaps more than anything there is a huge fear of the unknown.

It was really important to me that they made their own choice to come on the trip so we have talked about it extensively as a family. I think ultimately their trust in myself and their grandparents means that their excitement exceeds their fear. As a result, they are nervously looking forward to going.

I actually think this equation, that the excitement (or perceived benefit) needs to exceed the fear (the perceived cost and risk) needs to be true for any major change to be successful. And given that both the benefits and the costs are not always well understood by each individual, we often need to place trust in others. In effect, trust is the lubricant that makes change easier.

At our last Digital Champions Club Bootcamp a couple of weeks ago, the focus was on personal leadership and the role that digital champions play in supporting change for others. In our group discussions the themes of integrity and trust came up over and over again. The rapidly changing nature of technology and its history of redefining industries and replacing jobs means there’s often a large amount of fear when it comes to technology projects. More than ever before we need peer experts in our organisations that can be trusted to lead projects that are in the best interests of not just the organisation but also the people in it.

A question to consider is whether the person who leads technology projects in your organisation has trust and integrity in the eyes of end users? Are they helping people overcome their fears or is a lack of trust potentially fueling them?

The Digital Champions Club will be having a series of two-day intensives starting August. This is the course to attend if you want a structured approach to improving efficiency and driving competitiveness by using technology better in your organisation.

*Up until the 30th June you can also use the promo code EOFY20 to get a 20% discount on tickets.